Kejriwal, Mayawati to be in state today

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 14

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to undertake a whirlwind tour of three prominent deras of Doaba, besides meeting the family of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder and Dalit leader Kanshi Ram on his birth anniversary tomorrow at Ropar.

This will be Kejriwal’s second visit to Punjab in a fortnight. Besides Dera Sachkhand Ballan, Kejriwal is slated to visit the dera of environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal at Seechewal village in Jalandhar district and Baba Pargat Nath of Valmik Yog Ashram at Rahimpur village here. The party’s media team released Kejriwal’s detailed itinerary.

His first stop will be at noon at Gurdwara Bunga Sahib along the banks of the Sutlej river, where he will meet the family of Kanshi Ram. AAP leaders, including party convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, have been in close contact with Kanshi Ram’s sister Swaran Kaur and other relatives. Then, he will pay obeisance at Sri Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib.

Kejriwal is scheduled to arrive at Dera Sachkhand Ballan, a sect with considerable Dalit following, by 4:15 pm. Here, he will have a closed-door meeting with the sect chief, Sant Niranjan Singh.

The AAP convener will then move on to Seechewal village, where he will spend half an hour at the sewage treatment plant being used for irrigation purposes. AAP’s circle incharge and Seechewal village resident Harjinder Singh said, “Kejriwal will be taken around the various plantations and apprised of efforts being made for improving school education.”

His last stop will be the dera of Baba Pargat Nath, which has a huge following among the Valmiki community in the region.

Ravidassias, Valmikis on agenda

Kejriwal’s visit is aimed at wooing both Dalit communities— Ravidassias and Valmikis. While Dera Ballan has more followers from the Ravidassia community, Baba Pargat Nath is frequented by Valmikis.